Will the sale of supermarkets allow Casino Auchan to finally establish itself in Brittany?

Brittany has long been an anomaly for the mass distribution company owned by the powerful Mulier family. However, the recent sale of the 313 Casino supermarkets and hypermarkets to the Mousquetaires/Auchan duo may allow the Robin brand to gain a foothold in Breton lands.

Why had she avoided this region until now? Grassroots specialist Olivier Douwers attributes this absence to the result of a non-aggression pact negotiated in the 1960s, when Breton Édouard Leclerc advised Auchan founder Gerard Muller in his early days.

“Repairs will be expensive”

Since then, the Lille group has tried several times to establish itself in Brittany. As in Betton, near Rennes, in 2011 the Council of State revoked permission for the construction of a commercial complex. Another project was announced in 2012 in Finistère in Chateaulin. Auchan France management made the trip, but at the last minute, to the surprise of elected officials, the deal fell apart.

Then rumors mentioned Brest or Teix in Morbihan. Without the robin being able to build a nest there. Just one Simply Market store (now Auchan Supermarché) opened in Rennes in 2006 and closed four years later.

The takeover of the Casino hypermarkets in Brittany represents a real challenge for Auchan. “It will not be easy to change the situation, because there is already a very strong fight over prices in the region, in particular with Leclerc or Système U,” analyzes Bertrand Gobain, journalist and author of the book “The Hidden Face of the Müller Empire.” . »

Casino stores are also often in poor condition. “Repairs will be expensive. Not to mention the shift away from consumers towards hypermarkets in favor of local stores,” adds Bertrand Gobain.